This was the first ever inter-city Orkut Kobras meet. Like as always, after a lot of debate and contemplation, a date was decided.

Venue: Lonavala. The central location for Mumbaikars as well as Punekars. Time: around 9 am.

People who finally joined- Andy Joshi, Aditya Joshi, Gunesh Malshe, Aniruddha Rahalkar all from Mumbai and the sole warrior from Pune

Note: I am writing this as my travelogue as I was the only person who came from Mumbai by road. So the entire journey was kind of a joy ride for me.

I started from my home (Borivali) at wee hours. The reason? I wanted to enjoy what’s probably the best road around Mumbai and Pune – NH 4. I was looking forward to enjoy the ride in the chilling morning winds and take plenty of snaps on my way. I tanked up my bike at Borivali and took my first stop on the Vashi bridge. The usual pollution mixed with the morning fog created a good scenery.

Within 45 minutes from start I was tanking up my tummy at Shree Datta Snacks. After hogging on Khichadi, 2 plates of Batata Wada and Kutting, I started again.

The fun began from here. I saw the rising son after so many days. As it was Saturday morning, there was little or no traffic on the road. The change of scenery was almost instant. The road is well maintained, with proper lane divisions and other markings. The well laid tarmac inspired confidence and soon I was doing three digit speeds on the straights and scrapping my foot pegs on the curves.

The result - I reached Lonavala much before than I thought I would. So there was I, alone in a beautiful but lonely city, with a lot of time on hand and nothing much to do. So I decided to take a look around the city. Like any other small town, Lonavala was just beginning to begin its day. The only place that was fully awake was the ST Depot.
So, I rode a bit, took few more breakfast stops and had several cups of tea and got bored till death. Finally the man who started it all arrived. Anand Joshi (AKA) Andy Joshi (AKA) AJ. And soon few minutes later, Aniruddha and Gunesh arrived, followed by Prasad Limaye.
Then we decided to settle down at some hotel. And we settled at a hotel like we have settled there for life. After dozens of sandwiches, hundreds of cuttings and zillions of topics, we decided to empty the seats and start moving. (Ajun thoda vel baslo asto tar vahivaticha hakka milala asta amhala.) While on our way back, we took a stop for shopping. Mainly chocolate fudge. So much of it was purchased, the guy finally asked if we are going to sell them in Mumbai. We laughed, for the lack of any answer. We headed back to Mumbai, again taking stops on the way for photography.
But before parting our ways, we decided to make these meets a regular affair. Meet each other in Mumbai whenever the time permits and cross city meetings at least once in two months. Overall this was an experience to remember. We would have loved if more people have joined. Sadly, it didn’t happen. But we are glad we pulled it off very well. Meeting our online friends offline is something we all must experience.